Could your laptop really be worth £5m?

Laptop users are doubtless aware the gadget under their arm is valuable but they possibly don't realise just how valuable it really is.

Research released today suggests the average laptop may contain around £550,000-worth of data – with some potentially storing as much as £5m-worth of commercially sensitive data and intellectual property.

And with the threat of theft a very real concern - and users doing themselves few favours, leaving laptops under pub tables or in the backs of taxis - the message to businesses is clear: ensure all data is backed up regularly and that laptops out on the road are thoroughly secure and don't unnecessarily contain critical data.

It is all the more alarming then that the same research shows that only 42 per cent of companies automatically back up employees emails, where much of this critical data is stored, and 45 per cent leave it to the individual to do so.

Lindsey Armstrong, senior VP EMEA at Symantec, which commissioned the research, said: "It's alarming that executives have mobile devices containing data of such financial value and that very little is being done to protect the information on them."

She added: "It is critical that businesses start looking beyond just the price of the hardware and recognise that they also need to invest in protecting the data stored on these machines."

Past research suggests as many as 10,000 laptops are left in the backs of taxis each year and civil servants are among the worst offenders.